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In an opinion today, Judge Stein denied a motion to decertify a class action against the dating service “It’s Just Lunch” (see our prior coverage here) and concluded that many of the objections to the class could be solved by modifying the previous class definition so that there was a firm end date for the … Continue Reading

Yesterday, Judge Daniels dismissed a complaint filed by the family of murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich against Fox News, which alleged that Fox News and two contributors intentionally exploited the murder of DNC staffer Seth Rich during the 2016 election season. According to the complaint, Rich was murdered in Washington in what authorities believed was … Continue Reading

This week, Judge Buchwald dismissed a complaint against Tootsie Roll Industries, makers of the candy Junior Mints, claiming that packages of Junior Mints contained “non-functional slack-fill” which mislead consumers as to the amount of product contained in the package. Judge Buchwald noted that the labeling on the package, including the estimated servings in each package, … Continue Reading

In an docketed email Monday, Judge Berman politely declined a fan’s request to autograph a Sports Illustrated cover (likely the one below) over the “Deflategate” case (see our coverage here). Judge Berman pointed out that “while I was privileged to preside over this very interesting case, remember that I did so as the randomly selected district … Continue Reading

Yesterday, Judge Keenan dismissed a complaint against several producers of fossil fuels that asked the court to address the producers’ role in the effects of climate change. The complaint, filed by the City of New York, alleged that the defendants had known for decades about the effects of their fossil fuel emissions on the global … Continue Reading

Judge Katherine Forrest has announced that she will be retiring from the federal bench. Judge Forrest was nominated as a district judge by President Obama in 2011. For additional coverage, see the New York Law Journal piece here. Our full coverage of cases before Judge Forrest is here. H/T NYLJ… Continue Reading

In the DNC’s lawsuit over having been hacked during the 2016 election (see here), Judge Koeltl today denied without prejudice the DNC’s motion to serve Trump advisor and son-in-law Jared Kushner by alternate means (first-class mail), instead encouraging the parties to just work something out: The Court . . . notes that service of process … Continue Reading

Yesterday, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Maryland filed a complaint against the U.S. Treasury Department and others, seeking to invalidate the newly-enacted cap on the deduction for state and local taxes (SALT) on a filer’s federal income tax return. Prior to the 2017 changes to the tax law, all or a substantial portion of … Continue Reading

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Hellerstein dismissed a suit claiming that the popular novel The Art of Fielding unlawfully misappropriated elements of the story from an unpublished novel called Bucky’s 9th. After reading both works, Judge Hellerstein found they were not substantially similar: When read in context, the portions or features of TOAF that are … Continue Reading

This week, the owner of the copyright for Marvin Gaye’s hit song “Let’s Get It On” filed a complaint against English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran. The complaint alleges that Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud” copies large parts of Gaye’s work, including its vocal melodies, bass lines, chord progression, and harmonic rhythm. “Thinking Out Loud” was nominated … Continue Reading

In an opinion today, Judge Preska dismissed the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) from an action after finding that, because the CFPB’s structure was unconstitutional, it lacked the authority to bring claims under the Consumer Finance Protection Act (“CFPA”). The CFPB and the New York Attorney General had originally brought claims against companies that offered cash advances … Continue Reading

In an opinion Wednesday, Judge Oetken ruled that it was not unconscionable for UnrollMe, a provider of free software to help unsubscribe consumers from unwanted email, to enforce the users’ agreement to allow the company to use or sell their data, at least on an anonymized basis — notwithstanding that people may not like this … Continue Reading

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Oetken refused to transfer to the Southern District of Texas a challenge to the EPA’s decision to suspend a rule from the previous administration, concerning the definition of “navigable waters.” The Southern District of Texas is considering similar issues in a related case, but Judge Oetken found that the desire … Continue Reading

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Buchwald found that President Trump’s practice of blocking users on Twitter (typically after they post a comment critical of the President) violates the First Amendment. The plaintiffs (who included individual users as well as the Knight First Amendment Institute) claimed that preventing them from viewing comments, replying to tweets, and participating … Continue Reading

In an opinion Thursday, Judge Engelmayer dismissed claims by plaintiffs who alleged that they were defrauded into buying Diet Pepsi because they thought that the word “Diet” implied it would help with weight loss. He found that, in context, the plaintiffs’ alleged inference was not a reasonable one, since the term “Diet” refers to the … Continue Reading

In an opinion Thursday, Judge Sweet rejected a proposed settlement of a shareholder derivative case because the consideration for the settlement consisted of three corporate governance reforms that were all but meaningless, such as a commitment to vague and unspecified “training” and a commitment to maintain the same ethics code that existed all along and … Continue Reading

On Monday, Magistrate Judge Aaron ordered that the producers of To Kill a Mockingbird must film a performance of their play no later than May 15 as part of expedited discovery in their dispute with the estate of novelist Harper Lee. The producers are seeking a judicial declaration that the play (with a script written … Continue Reading

In an opinion last week, Judge Oetken denied a motion by a plaintiff, who identifies as genderqueer and who accuses the defendants of employment discrimination, to sue under a pseudonym. The decision was largely based on the fact that the plaintiff had already been identified in a news article, but Judge Oetken also noted the … Continue Reading

The complaint, filed today, alleges a broad conspiracy to benefit Donald Trump’s candidacy: Russian agents made clear that their government supported Trump and was prepared to use stolen emails and other information to damages his opponent and the Democratic party. Rather than report these repeated messages that Russia intended to interfere with U.S. elections, the … Continue Reading

In a complaint filed Monday, the producers of a forthcoming Broadway version of To Kill a Mockingbird, with a script written by Aaron Sorkin, are seeking a judicial declaration that the play is consistent with a written agreement to the rights to the play for just these purposes. An alleged representative of Harper Lee’s estate … Continue Reading

In an opinion yesterday, Judge Batts unsealed certain confidential settlement agreements (now available here) relating to harassment claims against former Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly. The plaintiffs are parties to those agreements and their suit (see our previous covered here) claims that O’Reilly defamed them by calling them “smear merchants” and otherwise implying that their … Continue Reading

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